The price of electronic devices has continued to decrease dramatically. In addition, the types of consumer electronic components and home automation electronics that can be purchased have also continued to increase. For example, DVD players, large screen TVs, multi-carousel CD players, MP3 players, video games consoles, and similar consumer electronic items have continued to drop in price and become more widely available. Examples of home automation electronics that are available include wireless networks, wireless power controls, powered windows, garage doors, and even networkable appliances. These factors and other influences have made home audio, home video, and home automation electronics more available to users.
In the past, electronics were relatively expensive and computer chips were used in mass consumer items or in applications where the cost of the electronics was warranted. However, in today's mass manufactured electronics industry, the price of electronic components has reached the point where computer processors, networks and smart devices are being embedded into common home appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, stoves, HVAC controllers and the like. In addition, light switches, garage door openers, relays for fireplaces, and similar items can be controlled from a personal computer using wired or wireless networking protocols. As the price of building and home automation components has decreased, these items are being used more frequently in residential homes and office buildings.
Many consumers are enthusiastic to buy consumer electronic and home automation equipment because of the promise of theater quality, high resolution video, high fidelity audio output, and centrally controllable household automation systems. However, after the electronic components and home automation products are purchased by consumers, they often struggle to setup and configure their system, and sometimes the electronic components will remain in a box for some time because the users do not really know how to connect the components together. For example, electronic components such as DVD players are often connected to televisions and other audiovisual components in a manner that does not utilize their full capability.
The reason why many intelligent individuals are not able to easily install or utilize the full capability of these electronic components is because it can be difficult, complex, and time consuming to setup and configure electronic components to function properly. In fact, many consumers often try to find a friend or another electronics-savvy individual to connect their components properly and make such systems work. Alternatively, consumers may employ an audio-visual and/or home automation consulting company that specializes in the sale and setup of such systems. This way the consumer is able to avoid actually installing and configuring the system. Due to the setup difficulty for many systems or the expense of using a consultant, less experienced electronics consumers may avoid buying feature-rich audio/video and home automation systems.
Sometimes consumers have purchased electronic components including DVD players, surround-sound systems, wireless dimmers, wireless HVAC controls, remote control switches, and high quality cables, but the users do not setup the system properly because of its complexity.
Certainly, an individual with some experience may connect a DVD player to their TV, but the user may not know how to set up an entire home automation and/or home theater system. For example, it can be more complex to setup surround sound or component video than to setup a DVD player alone. Installing home automation networks can also be a daunting task to the uninitiated.
A home automation system may remain unconnected or partially connected for a period of time, or the full functions of the electronic components may remain dormant. Users of such electronic equipment may not have the time to set up a complex system even if they have the appropriate knowledge because it may take several hours or days to install and configure a system. In addition, it may take weeks or months before an individual has time to sit and read the manuals in order to understand how to install and configure a home automation system properly. In the worst case, a user may never read the manual or configure the equipment properly.
There are also many individuals who do not have the experience or knowledge to understand how the audio-visual system should be connected together. These individuals may not even have the desire or interest to ever read the manuals or understand how components should be wired together.
For example, there are receiver systems and/or switching systems that enable consumer electronics to be connected into a central receiver. Then the switching and routing of signals between multiple components can be controlled through that receiver. Users who are able to properly connect all of their components to such a receiver have the benefit of being able to easily control broadcast television, satellite, cable, various types of surround sound, CD inputs, DVD inputs, home automation components, and provide other signal routing between various electronic components. However, despite the fact that a receiver is valuable once it has been connected up properly, it can be difficult to setup such a receiver, especially for users who have not had the appropriate training or time to sit and test cable configurations.